Reality TV Star Suffers Permanent Damage to His Hand: What Happened to Dean Westmoreland

The Repair Shop star Dean Westmoreland may love his job, but repairing and restoring items to return to their owners doesn’t come without a few risks. In a new interview with OK! Magazine, Westmoreland revealed that he has suffered permanent damage to his hand as a result of years spent being a cobbler.

“I have a squared off thumb,” Westmoreland shared with the outlet. “This thumb has been caught on the machine so many times that it’s now squared off.”

Despite the permanent damage to his hand, Westmoreland said he finds his line of work “really fulfilling. You know the history of the item, the story, you get an insight into people’s lives. So there’s that extra responsibility. When you give it back and they’re happy, there’s such a sense of relief.” He added that he’s “learning every single day and that’s what drives me to get better. There is more than a lifetime’s worth of learning in footwear. I’m hungry for it.”

Westmoreland fell into the cobbler trade by accident when he applied to work in a local shop. He didn’t realize at the time that the shop was a cobblers. It was a twist of fate, it seems, because Westmoreland quickly fell in love with the craft. He told OK!, “it’s always a challenge because every pair has a different story. I’ve had clown shoes, running spikes, war boots. I’m open to everything.”

Westmoreland joined the BBC’s The Repair Shop in 2021 as the show’s footwear expert and cobbler. Together with furniture restorer and presenter Jay Blades and his team, the show follows the group at their workshop as they restore life into broken and damaged family heirlooms. The workshop also features horologists, metal workers, ceramicists, upholsterers and other skilled craftsmen.

Speaking to OK!, Westmoreland admitted that before joining the show, he “thought it was all staged, but it’s as real as a TV show can be.” He added that he dreams of bringing the show and work he and his team do on tour, sharing that “it would be incredible. I think it would definitely work if they could manage the logistics.”

While to remains to be seen if The Repair Shop will go on tour, Westmoreland’s co-star Blades has plenty to keep himself busy. It was announced in February that Blades will continue his Through Time series on Channel 5 with a two-part West End Through Time. The special will see Blades speaking to historians and experts about the history of London’s West End.